Editor's Note: Many parts of the Chicago area were under severe thunderstorm warnings Tuesday morning. A severe thunderstorm watch continued for all parts of the area through 11 a.m. Weather warnings and watches can be found here.
More than 7,000 customers in the Chicago area were without power Tuesday morning as powerful thunderstorms swept through region, with another round of potentially severe storms in the afternoon forecast.
As of 8:45 a.m. Tuesday, 7,491 customers were without power ComEd's outage map showed, though that number was subject to change. The majority of those outages were in Cook County, with nearly 3,000 outages. More than 630 outages were reported in McHenry County, and more than 1,700 were reported to be without power in Lake County.
Other parts also saw major power outages, including DeKalb, where more than 200 ComEd customers were without power, the outage map showed. Outages were also reported in Will, Kane, and DuPage counties, the map showed.
According to the National Weather Service, all Chicago area counties at times Tuesday morning were under a severe thunderstorm warning. A severe thunderstorm watch for all counties will continue through 11 a.m., the NWS in Chicago said.
Tuesday morning's storms came fast, as a line that began in Northwest Illinois quickly brought heavy lightning, downpours and hail across Northeast Illinois.
"Expect damage to roofs, siding and trees," the NWS said, warning of nickel-sized hail and winds up to 60 miles-per-hour or greater.
Local
In the 7 a.m. hour, flights at O'Hare International Airport saw ground delays and ground stops due to weather. As of 9 a.m., more than 100 flights at O'Hare were canceled, with hundreds of flights delayed.
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According to the NBC 5 Storm Team, the first round of storm was expected to move out of the area between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m.
A second round of storms could ramp back up later Tuesday, NBC 5 Meteorologist Alicia Roman said, between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., creating potentially hazardous conditions for the afternoon and evening commutes.
According to the Storm Prediction Center, counties to the north Tuesday were at a "marginal" risk of severe weather, which ranks as level one of five on the SPC"s five-level scale. The rest of the Chicago area Tuesday was under a "slight" risk of severe weather, which ranked as level two.
"Any storm that does develop could produce heavy downpours and gusty, damaging winds," Roman said.
Those gusty winds could top 70 miles per hour, Roman said. Flash flooding was also possible with Tuesday's storms, along with the threat of quarter-sized hail, Roman added.
In advance of the weather, Chicago's Metropolitan Water Reclamation District issued an “Overflow Action Day” alert, advising Chicago-area residents to use less water in an effort to prevent overflowing of storm water management systems in the region.
Tuesday will also be a hot and humid day with muggier conditions, Roman said. Dew points in the 60s and 70s were expected, along with temperatures in the 80s to mid-90s.
"It's quite muggy out there already this morning," Roman said.
According to Roman, heat index levels Tuesday could reach into the upper 90s.
